Kids taking food, hiding food, sneaking food

DF and I are a blended family. He has three and I have three. The kids have experienced a bad divorce which is almost final. However this problem started before.

His dd is almost 8. She constantly takes food without asking and it is usually things I keep a close eye on like candy, junk food or ritz crackers which all the kids love. I will find wrappers in her bed under her pillow. This morning she ate breakfast and then took a cookie out of the cookie jar without asking. She does this ALL the time. Both her parents said that this has been a problem for years.

She also rifles through my drawers and my things as well as other people in the house. She steals things like lip gloss and pencils from her siblings.

I know some of this is an age issue. However we just spoke to all the kids and reiterated the rules of the house. They have full access to fruit that is always left on the counter (today is is 3lbs of oranges, a bunch of bananas and cut up pineapple), yogurt, cereal, granola, pb and j. We usually don't have a lot of junk in the house but it is close to the holidays. Also we rarely keep soda in the house.

His ods also does this but is getting better at asking. I never deny them food just junk food. I say if you are hungry eat xyz.

We are looking into counseling for the kids. We know this is a priority. But does anyone have this issue?

Comments (14)

My 5yo did this for a long time, both food and other peoples things. It was so frustrating!! I am not sure how I figured out it was a jealousy and attention seeking issue but as soon as I figured that out and dealt with that the sneaking/stealing reduced dramatically.

I only have "full access" foods in the house, and if it's something junk or semi-junk (which is rare), I just leave it out on the counter until it's gone. For instance I often buy 2 bags of potato chips a week. Between 7 kids it disappears quickly. But that's it for the week... no more chips.

So I would get however many boxes of ritz and tell the kids that's it for the week and to divide it equally. I wouldn't have candy in the house unless it's special occasion and once it's gone it's gone.

As far as the stealing, I would subject her to room searches just like in jail. Tell her until she stops stealing she's lost all privacy. If you find stolen items then give her a consequence and make her apologize in writing. HTH!

^^ I am the same way as PP I only buy things that they can have whenever they want. I do buy some junk, but it's there when it's there and if it's gone- too bad. I don't tell them to share, its first come first serve. If you get some, you get some... if not o well!